Harley Benton HBO-600NT

197 Customer ratings

4.3 / 5

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48 Reviews

Harley Benton HBO-600NT
$79
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T
Better Than The Real Super Shallow Deal?
Tele-Caster 19.12.2021
My first guitar was an Ovation Balladeer which I got as a birthday present in 1980. I have owned scores of U.S.A. and Asian made super-shallow bowl Ovations over the years. I was set to buy another when I came across a video by one Tomek Stężalski on YouTube in which a Harley Benton HBO 600 is compared to an Ovation costing several times more.

Through my headphones, the HBO 600 was a better Ovation than the Ovation was.

As inexpensive as the HBO 600 is, my expectations were frankly not very high.

What I received exceeded those expectations.

My instrument delivered to me in flawless, blemish-free condition. The only other Asian made Ovation I've had with no blemish from new was a late 1980's Korean made Celebrity model. The HBO 600 I received was up to that standard of build quality.

Even the inside of the bowl was neat and tidy and more so than even some US made super-shallows I've had over the years.

The setup, out of the box, was perfect. That's not hyperbole. This instrument shipped set up to have the neck relief, string height at 1st and 12th frets, that I would have adjusted it to had it not already been "dialed in."

No fret sprout. No need to dress fret ends or polish frets.

The only adjustment I had to make was the spacing between the D and G strings and the application of lemon oil to an overly dry fingerboard.

It was literally as perfect as one can imagine human hands and machines being able to make such a thing. It looked like an Ovation. It was built as well as the better ones I've had. It practically plays itself like the better Ovations I've had did. And it sounds exactly like these things are supposed to.

I like Roundbacks because the good ones have very even volume and sustain response up, down, and across the board, with no dead spots or wolf tone areas, and they respond well to variations in picking attack.

They don't sound like Martins. They don't sound like Taylors.

They sound like Ovations. Thank God. It's a balanced tone that sounds great on record with nothing more exotic than an SM-57 microphone. And they don't run out of volume or sustain when your brain takes you to what is the "dusty end" of the fingerboard on most acoustic guitars.

That's what my HBO 600 NT sounds like.... It sounds like the best super-shallow Ovations I've had did. And mine came out of the box with a better set-up than ANY Ovation I've ever had.

Ah, but all is not sweetness and light.......

The plugged in sound was a disappointment. A major, massive, horrible disappointment.

Then, on day two of owning the instrument, it wasn't a disappointment, anymore, because there was no plugged in sound to be disappointed by. The preamp died.

Thomman, of course, offered to make things right. I elected to take matters into my own hands, though. I bought a new Belcat 505 preamp for less than ten bucks from Amazon and had it swapped into the guitar in less than a half of an hour.

As delivered, my HB 600 NT was nearly impossible to get a useable plugged in sound with before the preamp totally died.

With a properly functioning preamp, though, I got a very good sound with the instrument EQ centered on all three bands, the instrument volume at 3/4, and the EQ on the Trace Elliott model of my Peavey Vypyr set flat.

Lush chords...... Piano-like lead lines with long sustain for an acoustic guitar... And tweaking EQ just made things better from there.

It's one of the best "Ovations" I've ever had over decades of playing them and my favorite of the lot due to how spot on it was set up right out of the box.

How it is possible to get this much of what some of us still love about Ovation guitars for so little money is mind-boggling to me, but there it is. Mine isn't just a good guitar for the money. It's a great guitar, period.

I absolutely could not possibly be more pleased.
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JC
Impressed by how good this guitar is
Jonah C 29.07.2022
I am expanding my fleet of guitars and decided to add a round back semi-acoustic to the rack. I chose this guitar for its natural spruce finish and low price and I knew the quality might not be very high.

I was so wrong! It is very well-built and the action is really low, so it's comfortable to play and doesn't require any adjustment - it's perfect for me. The tuners are okay - I will upgrade them though, probably to Wilkinson 19:1 ratio Grover-alikes (I always do this if needed).

The electrics work fine, although there isn't a tuner or a phase switch but at this price I am not surprised or disappointed - what is fitted works great (I have other tuners).

The best part is the spruce top - I swear is has flame running against the grain (a little like flame maple). It's subtle but you can see the light dancing across the whole top! Maybe I just got lucky with this guitar but it a beautiful piece of wood.

And the sound? That classic, soft acoustic sound with plenty of projection from the circular sound hole. Even better when amplified - it's a unique tone, I think.

To summarise: I would definitely recommend this guitar, it looks and feels and plays way better than its low price might suggest. My third Harley Benton and the keep producing the hits!
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D
Superb
Dragonfly101 16.11.2020
I don’t know how they do this for the price! This guitar is excellent, played beautifully straight out of the box. Deffo recommended.
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t
great guitar
tik0s 02.01.2020
so this is not a cheap guitar that is poorly constructed like other guitars in this price range. this is a great guitar the tone is clear and spanky. only had to adjust bridge height and the neck was spot on, great guitar for the money.
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S
Harley Benton HBO 600NT roundback
Stuart7862 15.02.2014
1 wanted to get a cheap round back and stumbled across this on the internet. Great looks, great sound, (acoustic and plugged in) that resonates well, and with a little tinkering with the truss rod (loosened about half a turn with the supplied key) got a nice playable action with no buzzing. The only issue I had with it when I received it was a slight string buzz (truss rod adjustment sorted this out) and the decoration around the sound hole was loose (a dab of super glue sorted this)
For £70 + £10 postage, what a deal, it came well packed and only took two days to get from Germany to the UK. A++
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M
Imitation Ovation
Matt33 13.02.2018
Very nice guitar for the price. The guitar came packaged very nicely and everything was in good condition. There where no sharp fret edges and the fret board looked very nice. There is one spot on the fret board where the wood is rough, but it is not too serious. The tuners where good enough, as i have not had any problems with them so far. The sound is ok. When finger picking, the bass notes are not very loud. The only negitive was that the guitars bridge was not nice, and changing strings was hard. The bridge was multiple chips in in and was rough overall.

Pros:
Plays well
Good quality

Cons:
Some wooden parts where rough
The bridge


Overall, i would gladly pay about 200 euro for this guitar. The pros definitely outweigh the cons.
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k
very good
kiossesm 25.09.2017
it is a very good guitar for 92 euros
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P
A Winner!
Pulstar2000 15.07.2021
I was not expecting much for such value, but this is a really nice sounding and well finished guitar that makes me wanna play all day. Thanks Harley Benton, thanks Thomman, 5 Star service! Impeccable!
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R
Excellent low priced instrument
Robert3970 15.12.2014
I bought this on behalf of a friend who is learning to play. I was dubious at first when I saw the price but very quickly changed my mind when I played it. I have played guitars many times it's cost that don't sound as nice as this. If you're not bothered about what it says on the headstock then this is well worth a go. Nice guitar, nice price.
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RF
Rock the shop
Rocky Fred 13.08.2021
Excellent value. Thanks Team Thomann
☘️
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Harley Benton HBO-600NT